Sportsnet magazine's launch Thursday was “the first piece of a massive rebranding campaign across all the Sportsnet brands, which will be showcased on air on Sportsnet Connected” Oct. 3, according to Susan Krashinsky of the GLOBE & MAIL. Rogers Communications “has spent the past year aggressively building the Sportsnet brand -- first launching a secondary network, Sportsnet One, then renaming its sports radio stations in Calgary and Toronto.” The company then added “another television network by buying control of the Setanta sports channel, which is to be renamed Sportsnet World.” As the sports broadcasting market “heats up -- with stations negotiating higher fees from cable and satellite companies, and battling each other for increasingly expensive broadcast rights -- Rogers wants to emphasize that it is a contender.” The name of the station “will also drop the corporate identity, advertising as Sportsnet instead of Rogers Sportsnet.” The company hired Hollywood-based Troika Design Group, which has worked with the Golf Channel, ESPN's "MNF" and TSN's "SportsCentre," to "create its new look." In the coming weeks, the company “plans to roll out more consistent Rogers branding across all its media brands, and offer more integrated packages to advertisers” (GLOBE & MAIL, 9/29).
